Axstar by Ibanez guitar wiring, need help

[Eric Schmitt]

I'm restoring an Ibanez Axstar guitar (the ones from the mid 80's) and I can't find anything on how they were originally wired. The model I'm doing is a H/S/H configuration. The only thing I could find was an old catalog that said it has 2 volumes 1 tone and a 3 way switch. If anyone could point me in the direction of a wiring diagram or at least how the controlls were set up to work, that would be greatly appreciated.

[Greg Robinson]

Hi Eric,
Does it have to be exactly like the original? There are plenty of ways you could wire it up, you can do whatever you want!
Which type of switch does it use? Blade or toggle? This will help us determine what was likely done, or what is possible.

[Eric Schmitt]

It would like it to be original if i can find some info, but it doesn't have to be. It is a 3 way gibson style toggle switch. Original parts are hard to come by for axstars but i'm at least using ibanez parts so if I'm unable to use the original wiring scheme it's not a big deal.

[Greg Robinson]

Ok, if it's a 3 way Gibson style toggle switch, I would guess that it's wired with the bridge and neck humbuckers on the toggle switch, with the middle single coil having its own volume control to be blended in with the others (both volume controls would have to be wired for independent operation. See a Jazz bass diagram compared to a Les Paul if you're unfamiliar with this configuration).
Hope I'm not leading you astray, and good luck with your project!

[Eric Schmitt]

I still haven't found anything definate on how they were originally wired but what you suggested is the direction I was leaning towards. I may add in some push/pull pots for coil splitting or series/parallel wiring depending on which set of pickups I use; IBZUSA 4 wire ones or a set of Ibanez QM's which are only 2 wire. I'm still kicking around ideas for now.

[Eric Schmitt]

I've scowered the internet for original wiring and came up with nothing. I've also run into another semi problem, I can't find a single coil pickup that fits the rout in the middle position. The rout is oval shaped not the v-ish shape and they're all to wide (top to bottom, not side to side). I'd have to pull out the router and widen the cavity a little. Given all that I've decided to go a completely different way. I'm going to make this a 3 humbucker setup with 3 way toggle, 3 volumes, master tone & add a mini switch to the middle humbucker for north coil/humbucker/south coil. The middle pickup will have it's own volume and I'll use a concentric pot as volumes for the bridge & neck pickups.

One question on the concentric pot, what would be the best way to ground the third lug on the inner pot? Bend it and solder it to the side? Jumper it to the third lug of the outer pot & ground the outer pot? Run a short wire from the inner pot to the bottom of the casing?

[Greg Robinson]

I always prefer to run a short wire rather than bending the contact over to the case, you can more easily inspect the quality of the joint, you're more likely to get a good joint as there's less thermal mass, in my opinion it looks tidier, and I've seen a couple of times where the wafer of the pot has been damaged by the bending, leading to premature failure.